1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to adaptive information compression. More specifically, the present invention relates to the compression of bandwidth in order to recreate active portions of the bandwidth at a remote location.
2. Background Information
Commercial services such as radiotelephone and television require the use of expensive transmitters or base stations to provide coverage for their target areas. Remote locations, such a rural areas, sometimes have difficultly receiving such signals due to their distance from the nearest transmitter or due to elements of their terrain (such as a mountain range).
In addition, with respect to radiotelephone coverage, certain public events, such as stadium events, can cause a temporary sharp increase in demand for available channels.
The cost of building additional transmitters and base stations in order to provide service to remote areas, poor signal areas, or temporary increased demand areas is not always cost effective. Therefore, there is a need for a low cost system and method that can provide signal coverage for these aforementioned areas.
One solution is to sample the entire relevant frequency band from a given signal area and using a fiber-optic cable, transport the entire spectrum to a target location where the entire spectrum is retransmitted. This solution is expensive, requires a large storage capability, and uses excessive processing time, since for example, the necessary bandwidth could be on the order of 25 MHz or more, thus requiring large storage space. In addition, because the above solution uses fiber-optic cable, the above system and method would not be feasible for temporary use.
Therefore, there is a need for a low cost system and method that can provide signal coverage for remote areas, poor signal areas, and temporary areas, without the need to process and transport a signal having a large bandwidth.